Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition ISBN © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Learning Sciences and Constructivism Chapter 9

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2 The Learning Sciences What are the learning sciences? Fields that study learning: Psychology Anthropology Sociology Computer science Neuroscience Philosophy

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3 The Learning Sciences Basic Assumptions: Experts have deep conceptual knowledge. Learning comes from the learner. Schools must create effective learning environments. Prior knowledge is key. Reflection is necessary to develop deep conceptual knowledge.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4 The Learning Sciences Neuroscience Learning leads to changes in brain structure and function. Type of instruction can influence the part of the brain used by an activity. Scientists can follow brain activity during stimulation using an fMRI.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5 MRI The original Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) could provide only limited information about physiological changes in the brain. A PET (positron emission tomography) scan provides more information than an MRI.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6 Constructivism Two central ideas of constructivism: Learners are active in constructing their own knowledge. Social interactions are important in this knowledge construction process.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7 Constructivism The learner is key to the knowledge-building process (active construction vs. passive reception) How do Piagetian and Vygotskian models fit with constructivism? How can we be certain learners construct the ‘right’ information and arrive at the ‘correct’ conclusions?

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8 Cognitive and Social Constructivism Cognitive constructivism: Individuals build develop cognitive and emotional functionality. Social constructivism: Social environs, cultural tools and other group-based phenomena impact the cognitive and emotional functionality.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 9 Constructionism Social Constructionism: Concerned with ways social information is passed on through cultural mechanisms. Suggests things only acquire meaning based upon cultural context. Questions what education should include, and ways information may be culturally biased.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10 Constructivist Teaching Social negotiation Collaborate with more experienced experts. Articulate and defend problem solving strategies. Build shared meaning among members of a group.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 11 Constructivist Teaching Inquiry-Based Learning Follow a scientific procedure to find an answer to a problem. Problem-Based Learning Students identify a problem and seek to solve it given the restrictions of the classroom and resources.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 12 Constructivist Teaching Cognitive Apprenticeship Students work with an expert to learn the skills and approaches experts use. Helps students develop a thorough understanding of ways to think about and approach tasks.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 13 Constructivist Teaching Reciprocal Teaching Students teach each other and critique each others’ understanding of new material

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 14 Social Processes in Learning Influences on Students Peers According to Steinberg … About 40% of students are not engaged learners About 90% of students have copied someone else’s homework About 66% of students have cheated on a test

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 15 Social Processes in Learning Influences on Students Students DO NOT want to be considered “too smart” Children tend to select like-minded peers as friends in elementary school There appear to exist cultural differences in value of learning (or there are differences in the ways in which value is expressed …)

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 16 Social Processes in Learning Influences on Students (cont.) Parents and Teachers Play a significant role in the absence of peers Involved parents play a role in students’ desire to avoid high-risk behavior and Parents and teachers who are supportive often have students who are more motivated to learn

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17 Collaboration & Cooperation Students learn more than just what’s in the curricula! Collaboration: philosophy about how to deal with people that respects differences, shares authority and develops everyone’s knowledge

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 18 Collaboration & Cooperation Cooperation: working together towards a common goal Cooperative learning: mixed-ability groups of students collaborate and are rewarded based upon collective achievement

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 19 Collaboration & Cooperation Common problems with cooperative learning Process over Purpose Group Think Socializing over Problem-Solving Dependency on “brain” in group Social Loafing

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 20 Types of Cooperation Reciprocal questioning Students ask and answer each others’ questions after expert (teacher or other) presents a lesson Scripted cooperation Students pair to summarize material and critique each others’ summaries Jigsaw Students each receive a piece of a “puzzle” to interpret and then teach everyone else in the group

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 21 Classroom Community Three C’s of Safe Communities Cooperative community, constructive conflict resolution, civic values Example Conflict Peer harassment Example Solution Peer mediation Civic Values How should students relate to others in their communities? What are their rights? Responsibilities?

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 22 Learning in a Digital World Digital Divide Home computers appear to be positively correlated with math and science achievement. Students who have computer experience tend to come from higher SES backgrounds.

Educational Psychology, 11 th Edition Anita Woolfolk © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 23 Diversity Constructivism expects diversity; it accounts for individual differences in knowledge construction